He Who Rests
by Narora Senoku
Summary: He has been sealed for Eons by his last opponent, fighting to save the world. He is unable to truly touch and feel, and not really seeing or hearing. Just recently, he came across one particularly special soul that could help him escape from his prison. He has to survive her personality first though... [NarutoxNeptune]


**A/N: ...You've all probably realized how much I like this franchise don't you? ^^'**

**I'm sorryyyy~ T-T It's just... I keep getting these ideas... and I'm a selfish bastard and don't want to make challenges... At the same time, I want to improve my writing T-T**

**This is my cycle... I hate it so. But I love it too...**

**Anyway, no hints for this story. I'm not gonna try to spoil much.**

**(On another note, if there's something you don't understand, let me know. I can catch myself in the future, and can edit that part you didn't understand. And if you don't understand something like, why I did the chapter like I did. Or something along those lines. Please, BE PATIENT. The story is in progress. You won't understand absolutely everything from the beginning. I've read books where the phrase 'I had all the answers, then the questions changed' happened like ten times...)**

**On yet another note, in the games and wikis, the Console Wars lasted for 'eons'. An Eon is defined as an extremely long, undefined amount of time. But some definitions say its only for a Thousand years. Eons, plural, says more then one. So, I'm going to try and put a number on it during the fanfiction to tie in the Shinobi era and the Console Wars.**

**The story starts just after the 11th event in the first game. IF has been with the 'party' for a bit and her role as the 'sensible one' has been established.**

**Just a little thing, this chapter turned out to be much longer then I thought it would... much longer.**

"Normal Speech"

_'Normal Thought'_

"_Naruto's Speech"_

_**Technique Name**_s

_He Who Rests_

_Chance Encounter_

Quiet. That greeted him as he awoke from his nearly century long slumber. Almost One Hundred years he'd been blissfully unaware of his surroundings. The only way that he could have been woken up was if somebody was close enough.

So, who was here?

Closing his metaphorical eyes, he stretched out his scenes. Centuries passing had allowed him to perfect his skills... Well. As 'perfected' as they could get while he was stuck like this.

As he searched, his mind added on the years that had passed to the current count.

8998 Years. Eight thousand, nine hundred and Ninety-eight years he'd been sealed and unable to move. Unable to breath. Unable to touch and physically see. Unable to talk. Nearly Nine thousand years in isolation had changed him. He wasn't happy, like he used to be. He wasn't bright, or cheerful. And he most definitely wasn't as powerful. No, most of his power was left with his Body.

Finally, his senses caught onto three signatures. Two relatively smaller ones, and one that was larger, but seemed to have a hidden power. One that dwarfed all of those near it. It was probably on the same level as his own, if slightly lower. It seemed... ditzy...

The other two smaller ones. One was very, _very_ bright. It almost hurt to 'look' at it. It seemed energetic, but nowhere near as hyper as the large one. Not so much stupid as... very innocent. And caring no doubt, like one would find from a relative or nurse.

The second signature was definitely larger then the innocent one, but nowhere near as _massive_ as the ditzy one. Calm. Cool. Collected. It wavered now and then–_possibly awkward thoughts passing by_–, and then returned to it's normal state of 'staticness'.

With a mental grunt, he resigned himself to calling out to the larger one. It was the largest that he'd seen. Ever. The only ones that were larger then it, were his own, both presently and in the past, Sasuke's and Madara's. Obito's may have been pushing it. Kakashi was riding on the cusp, but including him seemed to be cheating; what after Obito had given him massive power-ups...

...Then again, including himself and Sasuke, that would be cheating too... and maybe even Madara's...?

He definitely wasn't putting Kaguya in the mix. In the (future) immortal words of some purple haired girl, it was too 'God Mode'.

Either way, he began to call out with his own energy. Forcing it to manifest into a physical form to be seen by others. After charging it with a great deal of power, he sent the little ball of blue fire off in the direction of the signatures.

Most of the beings to pass through here had not seen, or just outright ignored the blue flame. Maybe he'd get lucky this time? Maybe the ditzy one was _just_ stupid enough to follow the flame. And hopefully, _just_ smart enough to realize what it came from.

Yes. That was what he needed. Somebody similar to him. Somebody who's personality nearly mirrored his.

A Smart-moron.

_**.::?::.**_

"Neptune! Slow down will ya!?

The purple haired girl, Neptune, paused in her running after the cute blue flame to turn around and spot her friends.

Her brown haired, most recent buddy, IF. She seemed to be some kind of ninja-like person. Good speed and stealth stats. Neptune wasn't sure where she would come in handy with those, but she sure as hell could kick some ass in fights.

And the second one. Pink hair. Nurse costume. It was like something out of a fan service game...

...Wait...

Shaking her head, like some godly force had controlled her actions and stopped her thought process, she brought up her hands in front of her chest, and bent forward slightly at the waist. Her hands turned into light fists as she spoke in a winy voice. Quite cute, if she could say so herself. "But~! We have to follow that light!" She paused to point at it as it floated away from them at a slow speed. Probably now that they weren't following it as fast.

"Who knows what it is!" IF complained, trying to reason with the unreasonable. "It could be some kind of trap."

"Ai-chan is right Nepu-chan!" Compa agreed, however weakly it was.

Neptune made a sound that was a cross between a groan and a moan. Before turning and watching the blue flame grow dimmer as it got further away.

Making a decision, she bolted for it, trying to catch up, ignoring the cries of her party members. She was always the one talking about how a party should 'stick together' and 'help each other'.

But something was strange about this ghostly thing. It was like it was calling to her.

After just a few minutes of running through the halls of the underground dungeon that was who-knows-how old, she finally reached a slightly ajar door. As the flame drifted through the small crack, Neptune began to push, hoping that her measly weight would open it. In the background, she could hear IF and Compa's foot-falls coming her way.

But try as she might, she couldn't open the door.

Just as IF and Compa turned the corner and saw Neptune, the small teen was able to get the door to open. Very abruptly too. With a small yelp, she fell down the small number of stairs into a somewhat well lit room (for being underground).

As IF and Compa made their way to her side, she sat up on her legs and rubbed a tender spot on her right knee. Compa, being some kind of nurse had noticed, and began to examine it on the spot. A few pokes, twists and winces later, Compa said that she'd only slightly fractured her kneecap in the fall. Not a good thing.

IF, having had enough of the dungeon as it was, began to help Neptune up, but she paused when Neptune didn't respond. She had Neptune up on her feet, but the girl was looking at something in front of her.

IF turned her gaze, and she found a rather large Scythe impaled into the ground... A black wooden snath, and what she could see of the blade, it was a flawless silver. Where the blade met the snath, it had a slight backward curve.

Probably for somebody's neck...

She shivered, before glancing back at Neptune when she felt her try to walk forward. She saw Neptune's free hand, her right one, reaching out to the snath.

"Oi! What are you doing?!" IF called out to her relatively new friend as she tried to pull her back a bit. That Scythe was the only other thing in the room besides their 'party'. That just screamed 'Bad Situation'. Why was it here in the first place? If it was left to rust in a place like this, then it must not be worth having.

But Neptune was having none of it. Because the girl was surprisingly strong for her build and her hand wrapped around the black snath...

_**.::?::.**_

Oh, just his fucking luck.

Some girl that didn't look a day over Fourteen. She didn't even look like she could have opened that door on her own, let alone wield his massive body. And he saw her land on her right knee in that nasty fall. No way was her kneecap okay from that. No fixing it soon.

…

Well, he could, but she would need to be able to actually _lift_ and use him in battle before he could heal her.

But he got an interesting surprise. The girl grabbed onto his snath, and simply... tugged...

Just a little tug, and he was free from the ground quite easily. He had to stop his mind from reeling so he didn't end up sick from moving for the first time in thousands of years.

How. In the hell. Had she managed to pick up a scythe that was nearly twice her size? His snath was seven feet long. His pristine blade, nearly four-and-a-half feet long, and it's thickest point was at least a foot wide!

Nevertheless, the little girl was looking at him with wonder in her eyes.

Weighing his options, he came to a decision.

The girl would do. At least until he located his body.

In nearly a split second, he collected about twenty percent of his soul: His mind and will, and sent it through the connection that the girl had formed with her hand.

First it was just black and quiet, then he felt a massive force begin to push against him. With a panicked grunt, he began to use his own massive energy to keep him stuck to her soul. But at this rate? He'd be flung off...

He would have to sleep. And sleep often. If he rested, he could recover his energy at a phenomenal rate, slightly faster then he was using it up at the moment. With that decision in mind, he caught the last glimpses of the girl's wide purple eyes, before he closed his eyes and began to rest, preserving energy and gaining more so he wasn't thrown out of her body...

How many years would this take? He wasn't sure. Hopefully, it didn't take any. He wasn't sure how long his soul would remain if he used up such massive amounts of energy, recovered it all, and repeated the process indefinitely. His soul would burn out first. Just the repetitive process would tire him.

So, with great reluctance, he resigned himself to more sleep. Hopefully though, this time it wouldn't be as long...

_**.::Next Day – Exit of Planeptune::.**_

IF ducked yet again, for the umpteenth time. They were back on the road today, after having half-dragged Neptune and her new, huge-ass scythe to the hotel.

But that was a mystery in itself. They were on the road. Neptune was walking fine. Her knee, as credited by Compa, had fully healed within the span of just ten hours...

Unheard of. A fracture like that would take at least two weeks to heal, if it was small enough. IF didn't need to be a Medical Professional to know that. But acording to Compa, the fracture was set in such a way that, it would be a complete break if Neptune put _just_ to much force on her knee.

But they woke up today to find her bouncing around the room. After a small scuffle, they'd finally gotten her in a chair and had Compa assess the damage. But there wasn't any damage to assess. That lead to Compa declaring Neptune her 'test subject' after her own little mental war in her pretty little head.

IF didn't know if she liked the sound of 'Test Subject'.

Neptune definitely didn't. She screamed something about 'being a mummy again!' when Compa announced it and hid behind the Scythe that was leaning against the wall.

That was another damn mystery.

What in the blue hell is that thing? Why is it so big? _Why_ can _Neptune_ lift it! It was so big, it looked like only a well-off man could even hope to hold it above their heads with two hands. But Neptune, in all her moronic joy and wonder, was swinging it around like it was a stick she'd randomly picked up on the side of the road!

Stopping suddenly as the scythe once more cut her head in two pieces, she observed a few strands of her beautiful brown hair falling to the ground. She felt her eye twitch before she walked up to Neptune, who seemed _much_ to engrossed in her new _toy_ to notice, and...

Slapped her upside the head.

The result was the scythe being flung from Neptune's hand mid swing, and landing in front of Compa, easily digging into the ground just two inches in front of the poor girl's toes.

Compa, for her part, was scared stiff for all of about five seconds. She was about to start crying–_god knows why_– but her curiosity got the better of her. Reaching her own slender hand out, she ran her fingers along the snath, finding it to be somehow smooth, but with a grip to it at the same time. There weren't even any groves carved in it for that kind of, but it had it none the less.

Taking a step back, she grabbed it with both hands and surprisingly, she too found the massive weapon to be much lighter then it appeared. Sitting the end of the snath on the ground and plopping herself down on a medium sized rock, she took to observing it closer while IF and Neptune bickered.

The whole weapon had to be at least seven feet long; Snath wise. The blade was just over four feet maybe, and a pure silver color: like it had never seen rust, or dirt. The snath was black and 'smothly-rough'.

The snath itself seemed to be made out of some kind of wood she'd never seen before. She couldn't tell if it was stained the black it was, but something in her gut told her that it wasn't. And the blade was sharp. _Very_ sharp. Just tapping the edge of it and pulling her finger back, there was a cut on it and it was already bleeding.

Setting the scythe down on the green grass, Compa whipped out a bandage from... somewhere, and placed it over her finger after cleaning up the blood with a cloth.

Once done, she picked up the blade and stood up with it, easily holding it in both of her hands, the snath pressed to her generous breasts, and walking over to the duo who had just finished their 'talk'.

IF, having noticed that Compa had walked off to the side with the scythe, turned her full attention back to the nurse when she made it back to them. "Did you find anything strange?" She was still suspicious of that scythe, and would probably have to find time to investigate it herself. Maybe there was something about it on the net?

Neptune just watched, a small lump on her head from where IF had hit her for 'being too Neptune!', but it looked to be getting smaller. She was surprisingly serious as Compa handed the scythe back to Neptune with a smile. "Nothing that we don't already know~."

'Already knowing' could be simplified to Neptune yelling about how 'Epic the scythe was for a main character like her'.

Basically. It was lighter then it looked and super sharp.

IF let out an exasperated sigh, "Huge ass scythe aside, shall we continue?" She pointed in the direction they were going. The Sky harbor was that way, and they were all set for Terraportation now.

After getting a chorus of agreement, they continued on their way. But IF still had something bothering her. She set her gaze on the unknowing, purple haired teen before her.

Not long ago, they'd gotten into a fight with some strange witch cosplayer. They never got a name, but she was indeed powerful. They had won just by the skin of their teeth, if it hadn't been for Neptune's 'Episode'.

_**.::Flashback – Day Before::.**_

_This was not a good situation. Neptune was the only one left standing, and even she looked beat tired._

_IF let out a nearly desperate grunt as she tried to force her body to move, but it was unresponsive still. Compa was in the same state not far from her: tired, hurt, and trying her best to heal her wounds so she could tend to her other two friends._

_Neptune was barely standing. The girl had recently lost her strange transformation; the one where she grew older. They still didn't know what it was, but it was useful in situations where enemies were too powerful._

_But this time it hadn't worked as well. Sure, in the beginning it had served to even the odds a bit, but it was taxing to use. It drained a lot of energy from Neptune, something that their opponent didn't have to deal with. The fighting was mostly a dead-lock, until IF and Compa were to exhausted to continue. At that point, Neptune had to expel extra power to keep them all alive. Even that had died off and Neptune reverted to her first, initial state._

_Just a few attacks more, and Neptune couldn't stand under her own power anymore. She was exhausted. Even the scythe she was holding was beginning to feel heavy._

_The witch laughed and threw insults at them. Talking to herself and saying something about this being Neptune's home turf. Nevertheless, they'd lost the fight. With that thought, Neptune lost consciousness._

_IF made a face as fear finally hit her full force. This witch didn't look like she was just going to be satisfied with beating them. They were all going to die here._

_Compa was still trying to heal herself, but there wasn't anymore time left to do it. IF's muscles were still screaming in agony at being used like they had for so long. Neptune..._

_Was still up?_

_IF had to blink really hard to make sure she wasn't seeing anything. And she wasn't. Neptune was still sitting up, but her eyes were covered. IF knew she was out cold from exertion, she had to be. Her eyes had rolled back in her head. But she was still sitting up. People who were unconscious usually couldn't do such a thing._

_The witch noticed as well. "Hoe? Still awake in there?" She called out sarcastically. As she began to strut towards the downed teen._

"_Well. Don't worry. You'll soon b-"_

_The witch didn't finish. She couldn't. Because she had to put all of her power and effort into dodging a swing of that deadly scythe. What was going on? Neptune was never able to swing it that fast? Hell, she wasn't able to swing anything, even her swords, anywhere _near_ that speed._

_And then she stood up? How? Why? She shouldn't be able too..._

_Neptune lifted her head._

_The witch was taken aback at her eyes. IF as well, but she didn't have the _murderous_ gaze set upon her, so the effect of being shocked didn't last as long. Compa was at an angle where she couldn't see Neptune's face, so she was left in the dark, but made no comment about it._

_The witch actually felt some sweat drip down her cheek. Neptune's eyes were different now. Just... everything was _different_. They were no longer purple; full of life and joy. They were _red_ now. A deep crimson, with some strange markings in them. Excluding her pupil (which had shrank to accommodate those extra markings in her now red iris) there were three more black marks forming the vertices of a triangle encasing it._

_She held herself differently too. She wasn't bouncing around in some kind of self-taught stance. She was calm now. The scythe she was gripping with two hands for the entire battle was held lazily in her right hand, it's blade pointing at the ground. Her muscles weren't tense anymore either._

_But her eyes remained the same. Dark, evil, powerful. Eyes of a hardened warrior. One who'd seen war, and all of the death and loss that came with it. Saw it through to the end and lived to tell the tragedies that occurred during it. Horror stories that were more frightening then anything told around a campfire or even on the Internet's famous 'Creepysalad' (1)._

_And she fought like one. A simple kick, something that didn't waist nearly as much energy as it _should_ to move as far and fast as she did, for she'd covered nearly fifteen feet in the span of two tenths of a second (0.2s). Her arm came back, and her left hand grabbed onto the snath of the scythe as she _flew_ at the witch._

_The hum of the scythe was defining as it was whipped around at the witch's neck at high speed. The witch had but a second to bring up her own weapon to save her life. But even it hadn't the power to stop the scythe completely. It made contact with the snath, and though it slowed it down, the scythe had _much_ more power put behind it. The spear snapped. It had done little against the scythe, but it did give Arfoire enough time to duck under the razor-sharp blade and kick off the ground to gain some distance. But even as she gained her distance, she noted that this 'New Neptune' was positioned in such a way that she could easily follow and end her life. Her right leg was already set to kick off again, most likely at that amazing speed she had the first time, and follow with that deadly scythe._

_But she didn't._

_Arfoire counted her lucky stars that this New Neptune had remained where she was. Eyes still burning a hole into wherever they looked on her face. Mouth set in a disappointed frown, like she wasn't happy with her performance. She brought the scythe back from it's missed swing, standing lazily with it again, head tilted slightly to the side._

_The message was clear. It didn't even need to be said. Arfoire knew what she wanted._

_'Fuck Off.'_

_Arfoire bit her lip. She had no choice but to. But what in the hell was this?! Neptune was never this ruthless. Never this fast or powerful. Never this... evil. She never was able to look down on anybody, especially _Arfoire_, as if they were an insect that had just landed on their burger that they were eating outside in the nice summer day._

_Arfoire had lost this fight somehow. Neptune had managed to pull through. Broken her spear (which she now needed to replace, she realized). These things weren't cheap dammit!_

_She grunted, unladylike, and took a step back. She couldn't believe she was going to run, but she would. And she'd come back. Better prepared, better informed. This new development was... unseen. Unexpected. That was partly the reason she'd lost. She was surprised. A deadly disadvantage, and this New Neptune knew about it._

_With the typical 'I'll be back speech' the witch vanished into the darkness. Even the broken pieces of her spear were gone._

_IF tore her gaze away from that spot, the one where the witch was just moments ago, to Neptune, who was still acting weird._

_IF held her breath. Neptune turned her bloody eyes to them, but they weren't threatening now. More contemplative. As if she was debating something. A few seconds later, she walked towards IF and Compa, standing before both of them._

_Then she did something strange. She jabbed the scythe into the ground next to her and... fainted._

_Just fainted. Her eyes had faded back to their natural purple before she'd done so, but none the less, Neptune was now, without a doubt, unconscious... and IF was going to have to be the one to carry her _all_ the way back to the hotel._

_Joy._

_**.::End Flashback::.**_

What in god's name was that? Neptune didn't recall doing any of it. She woke up the next morning wondering how they'd gotten out of that situation alive. When IF and Compa explained it to her, she had no recollection. The last she remembered was falling to her knees after Arfoire's last few attacks.

She didn't even know she'd fallen unconscious...?

IF didn't like it. Not one bit. Compa didn't say anything about it, but she knew that Compa wasn't happy either. Being left in the dark like they were, wasn't a good feeling. The possibilities of what could happen. Neptune could have an Episode again, only this time, they would be the only ones around to be fought. And they certainly couldn't hope to dodge the swings of that deadly scythe.

They'd be decimated. Utterly dominated in a fight. No light at the end of any tunnel would be close enough for them to reach, before the darkness got to them.

But, she set those thoughts aside. Another time. She would contemplate it another time. For the moment, she had to catch up to Neptune who'd, once more, run ahead of the group...

_**.::Neptune's Soul::.**_

That was taxing...

He grunted as he returned to his place within the girl, Neptune's, soul.

She and her friends had gotten into some serious shit. Naruto didn't know who that woman was they were fighting, but he'd felt the power coming from her and he'd felt it many times before as well. It was always accompanied by a smaller power, but this time it didn't seem to be around. Curious.

But, Neptune and her friends (IF and Compa, if he recalled correctly), had gotten into a fight far over their heads. He'd woken up around the middle of the battle, when they were doing relatively well.

Teamwork at it's finest. He remembered the lessons of Kakashi, his now late Sensei. Teamwork could overpower even the most powerful. But this time, it didn't work. Teamwork was good and all, but even it had it's limits. And their teamwork met it's limit when they all ran out of stamina and power to fight.

So, he had to step in to help them. Usually, he couldn't do something as taxing as that, as he had to put all of his effort into keeping his soul attached to Neptune's. But for that, Neptune's soul had to try and expel him. Which required her to use up energy to do so. But her soul's energy had depleted as she fought, and Naruto found it much easier to do... well... anything. He didn't have to expend so much energy to remain attached to her, and he could use her senses much easier then before, seeing through her eyes and hearing through her ears.

But, eventually it got to the point where Neptune was loosing her battle, and about to be killed. That was bad. Both for her, and for him. So, he gave her a helping hand.

He borrowed her body.

Her soul was much to weak now to fight his own. It was simple to exert his will upon her body. And, in just a few moments, he found himself in control of her body. And nobody had known about it at all. He kept to himself for a moment, moving her extremities around, testing their reactions. Flexing muscles to see what his limits were.

Just a moment before the witch had gotten about three feet away, he activated his Sharingan; a gift from Sasuke himself in his last moments. He'd vowed not to misuse them to the dying man, but Sasuke had insisted and 'pulled an Obito' on him. But, a certain entity within him had refused to give him the powers of an Uchiha, and had destroyed certain aspects of the benefits. Sasuke's eyes didn't have access to Mangekyou anymore, but he could still access Susano'o. Abet, a_ very_ broken and imperfect version that would never match up to any of the previous ones used by comrade and enemy like.

But he didn't need it for the witch. Nope. She was unknowing. That meant she would be surprised. Which was deadly.

Very deadly, especially to anybody who fought. Didn't matter who you were, if you were caught off-guard, you were on the fast-track to being very, _very_ fucked.

So, he'd done just that. Surprised her, and forced her to retreat. He could have matched her in battle, most-likely. But he had a severe disadvantage. He was using up massive amounts of his own energy to keep control over Neptune's body. And Neptune's body: it was tired. He could feel the strain he was putting on it by forcing it to move at speeds it wasn't used to yet.

He could even feel her eyes begin to hurt as the Sharingan put strain on them. Usually, this wouldn't effect anybody adversely, but this Sharingan was different. It was previously 'Eternal', and it was fully matured to top it off. That was a lot of power. Power that strained those that couldn't adapt to it.

If he used it too long, he would ruin her eyesight. She wouldn't be too happy with that.

So, prolonging a fight would be bad. He had to end it quickly.

After giving the witch a little bit of a fight, he broke her weapon. That would deter her a bit. Using just a small amount of the blood-lust born from the desire to kill, most accurately known as 'Killing Intent', he exerted his will, his _absolute __desire_ to end the witch's life, onto said witch. That proved to be the final straw, as she backed off rather quickly.

Then he'd turned his gaze to the girl's that were on the ground. Friends of Neptune's. Not enemies at all. Annoying? Maybe slightly. Cute? Oh yeah. But enemies? Nope.

So, he'd did the most sensible thing he could. He walked over to them, and relinquished control back to Neptune.

...

It was a strange sight actually. Inside of Neptune's soul, there were representations of the two of them, their consciousnesses. He, as he was when he was first sealed, and Neptune, unconscious on the black, invisible 'ground' of her soul. As he walked past her, back into the recesses of her soul where he'd made his temporary residence, he cast her a glance.

Neptune. From what he'd gathered, she was ditzy, hyper, quick to trust and cute. And powerful.

Just like he used to be. But the Powerful part was in debate.

That made him wonder if she had a past similar to his own. He knew that her memories were locked away. Amnesia. He couldn't access her memories anyway, but he knew that she had amnesia.

There were two very good reasons he couldn't access her memories. First of all, her Soul and Will denied him, so he wouldn't be able to do much until she could change that. And if he did see her memories... then she would have to see his. They'd have to trust each other enough that they could know the other's lives to the smallest details.

Happy memories, Sad memories, Embarrassing memories, memories that shouldn't ever be seen or remembered.

The idea was synonymous with them getting married.

Not happening. At least, not any time soon. Not until she knew of his existence, and could teach her. True, he was just going to hitch a ride on her soul, and leave the moment he came across his body, but he'd no idea how long that would take. So he'd teach her to use him, if only a little bit.

But that was going to be hard. There would have to be an outside force to tell her about him. He couldn't do it himself. He couldn't speak to her like Kurama had done for him oh so long ago. She rejected him, however unconsciously it may be.

Somebody would have to recognize his Scythe, or his soul within her own.

But he doubted that would ever happen.

_**.::Lastation::.**_

Neptune's 'gang' didn't take long to make their way to Lastation. Terraportation was surprisingly fast. Faster then Neptune thought it would be at least. She imagined a big'ol flying ship. Nope. Not that.

As they made their way through Lastation, IF kept her eyes on Neptune. So far, it had been about a day since she'd had an 'episode'. And she looked stable enough. But, IF had just met these girls. She wasn't about to stick around if one turned out to be some split personality, homicidal maniac.

But the coast was clear at the moment, so to speak. The only strange thing Neptune had done was be herself. If she was acting like a normal person, then IF would be more worried.

Regardless, they stopped for a bit and began to converse and educate themselves. Exchanging information they had on Lastation. The industrial city, presided over by Black Heart, Lastation's CPU Goddess.

A CPU, Console Patron Unit, was a name to classify the four individuals in existence, that presided and rules over one of the four cities in Gamindustri: Planeptune, Lastation, Leanbox and Lowee. They were deity like beings, when in reality, they were more like teenage girls then anything.

Ah, that's right. IF had forgotten. Every Goddess was female. And unbelievably beautiful. Must have come with the territory of being a Goddess?

But there was one Goddess that was missing from the equation. Nobody knows where Planeptune's CPU has gone, while the other CPU have come down from Celestia to their respective cities. Planeptune _seemed_ to be okay, but they may not last long without their CPU.

Regardless, they were in Black Heart's territory now... And it was just a bit ridiculous... She had her own Blog. And she updated it. Frequently. With just everyday things. Nothing about developments of the city, or what she's doing to improve life and all of that crap that other people might put on a blog.

Nope. She chose to talk about redundant things, of _all_ the topics she could chose. Every now and then, there were things about the city, but they were mostly warnings aimed at the citizens about certain dungeons and whatnot.

Either way, they were here for the Key Fragment. Each Landmass had one. Each was a key to rescuing Histoire. Somebody that IF wasn't sure she could trust.

Hell, the only person she felt that she could put faith in was _Compa_. The innocent nurse.

But, back to the point at hand, it was time to move out and see if they could locate the Key Fragment. The first stop, would probably be the Basilicom...

_**.::Days Later::.**_

Opening his metaphorical eyes once more, he took a few seconds to remember where exactly he was.

Neptune's Soul.

Still locked in a struggle to remain attached to her. Expending a great deal of energy just to do so and resting endlessly to replenish that energy, only to use it again. He woke up only a few rare times, but soon had to sleep again.

He'd woken twice since he'd borrowed Neptune's body.

The first time he awoke, was them in the middle of a dungeon fighting a particularly powerful monster. Neptune had expended more energy then normal, but she would still easily win. And she did, quite easily once he'd awoken.

It was strange, at the time. He decided to watch her little fight, just for some entertainment before he rested again. And she was using him very effectively. Like she already knew the basics of his fighting style. The one he'd yet to teach her...

Perhaps his soul was rubbing off on her own? His muscle memories were being transferred to her own through their unofficial, unknowing contact that he'd made. She was sub-consciously learning his fighting prowess. Not a bad thing, he supposed.

Less he had to teach her when he got around to it.

Just as they were leaving the dungeon, he felt her soul begin to push on his own with more force again and resigned himself to another god-knows-how-long slumber.

He awoke again, this time not to a fight, but an asshole.

From what he could gather of their conversation, his name was "Singe". A strange name for a man, but, he was more worried about his personality. He went on about machines being better then humans. How a Human's creation would soon make Humans themselves obsolete.

He just thought this Singe character had a mechanical pole up his ass.

He kind of wanted to tell him that in person...

But he couldn't control Neptune's body freely. At least, she didn't allow him to yet...

So, he went to rest again. This time he didn't stay awake as long, because Neptune wasn't tired, like the last time, and was pushing on him full force.

He slept again. This time, for a few days more.

When he woke up, though, something was different. Similar to the time he'd taken Neptune's body from her for a bit while she rested in her mindscape, she was once again in a tough situation.

This white haired girl is a problem. To himself and Neptune.

So... Maybe he should step in again? She was tired once more, not nearly enough to fall unconscious, but...

…

What the hell? He'd slept for far to long again in her body. Woken too many times, only to sleep again. He needed some form of entertainment.

So, with that thought, he exerted his will once more upon her weakening one...

_**.::Real World::.**_

Not good.

This situation was not good. It was just like back in that damn dungeon with the witch, only Neptune wasn't insane yet.

Yet.

IF had this sinking feeling in her stomach. She'd been thinking about the last time it had happened, and had come up with a weak hypothesis.

Last time, Neptune was spent. Tired. Exhausted. She couldn't fight anymore. Perhaps that was the key? Maybe there was some being stuck to her mind that didn't feel like dying that day, along with Neptune?

Yeah, right...

And maybe Neptune was actually a Goddess.

...Well, that would come back to bite her in the ass some day, but not today.

Neptune, for her part, fell out of her transformation again. That powerful state that let her match the white haired girl for so long was now lost. The same thing as with the Witch Cosplayer. She wasn't so tired yet as to fall unconscious though.

Compa was in the back, leaning on her oversized syringe. Panting and tired, but still working hard to keep the group alive.

"That's it?"

Neptune could have sworn the girl mumbled just now, but put it off as hearing things due to fatigue.

But what happened next. She couldn't put off as that. It was to _out of body_ to be fake.

In just a blink of her eyes, she was seeing black. Darkness on all sides wherever she looked. An abyss?

Had she passed out? Did she fail her quest? Her friends?

"Step aside."

Wasn't she the only one supposed to be in here...?

Turning her head when she felt a hand press to her shoulder, she saw a man-, no, a young man. He couldn't be a day over 17 stepping past her. He didn't offer her a glance as he lightly pushed her behind him. He took a step forward, and his bright blond hair moved in the non-existent breeze. As his foot hit on the 'ground', ripples of light spread out from their point of 'contact', and faded away about six inches after spreading, like he was walking on water.

She wasn't talking because she saw his eyes. The same eyes that Coma and IF had claimed she had at one point. It shocked her into silence.

Blood red. Black markings. Eerie power locked away behind them.

She was somewhat glad he didn't look at her, actually...

She may have been frightened to death of him...

_**.::Real World::.**_

It happened again.

IF's hypothesis was right. Or at least, somewhat correct. She felt a particularly large bead of sweat drop down her neck when she saw Neptune close her eyes slowly, then open them with a snap. Purple before. Crimson after. Her face was tired looking and appeared to be extremely 'spent', but with the opening of her eyes, her face became stern and hard.

This 'New Neptune' was back again. The eyes were a dead give away. The way she stood now did too. The only other large difference was her presence again. They weren't standing in the presence of a hyper, happy-go-lucky teenage girl now.

They were standing before a hardened warrior, who's power far surpassed them; and they all knew that New Neptune would know that too. IF, Compa, even the white haired girl before them all knew that Neptune was now much more powerful than them, though they didn't want to admit to it and would fight tooth and nail to say otherwise...

Once more calm and collected. Ready. Cautious and relaxed at the same time. New Neptune was just as strong as the first time.

IF turned her shocked gaze to the white haired girl, she seemed to have noticed it too. She was unnerved. Her once high-and-mighty look was replaced with one of wonder and worry.

Maybe they would survive this battle too...? Assuming that Neptune didn't attack them as well. The chances of it weren't quite as high as when they were facing the Witch, but there was still a chance...

"W-What did you just do? Neptune?!" Noire called out the girl. This was different. She never showed something like this before. Not in the thousands of years that she'd known her. Those eyes were not Neptune's. This presence wasn't Neptune's either. They both belonged to something else. Something inhuman. Like some kind of _monster_. Yes.

That was what it felt like.

Noire could feel as if some pure destructive force was looking down on her, some _monster_ ready to devour her.

That was now the difference in their power. She had to fight back the natural reaction to her fear, and take a step away. If she did that, she'd undoubtedly lose this battle of wills. Not that she thought she had a chance to win to begin with. But she ignored that thought and went back to observing these new changes.

All of this was new, just like that scythe.

When she'd first seen it, she put it off. Neptune was probably trying to look big, she told herself. Appear larger and more powerful then she really was. Noire liked to think of herself as just as powerful, if not slightly _more_ powerful then Neptune.

She was wrong. Neptune actually knew how to use that huge thing, at least to some degree of effectiveness. It wasn't a big shock at the time though. That meant she was slower now. And she was, slower then she would normally be. She sacrificed speed for power. Agility for destructive force.

That was deadly against Noire. She was quite fast herself. And in her HDD, she hit plenty hard.

Now though, she didn't feel as if it would be so easy.

This new stance; this new fighting position, was... different. Relaxed. Like Neptune knew she would win now. Like, no matter what was to happen, She would come out on top.

But two things started to ring some alarm bells in the black-haired beauty's mind. And they were simple observations.

Neptune wasn't tired anymore. She was breathing pretty hard just a second ago. Tired enough to drop her transformation to save energy. Now she was fine. Didn't look winded in the slightest. Like she was fresh to the battle.

And those eyes... She'd never seen something like that anywhere. Ever. Crimson eyes like her own, but brighter, and _deadlier_. Like they were looking down on her.

_Judging_ her. _Mocking_ her.

She gripped the hilt of her sword tighter.

She didn't like being looked down upon.

She started with banter. Trying to provoke Neptune. "H-Heh! You think just because you put some contacts in while I wasn't looking, you're suddenly stronger? Don't mess with me!"

But it did nothing. Neptune just continued to watch her. She didn't move at all. She blinked once, but it did nothing to break the spell those eyes had on Noire. Her mouth didn't move. Didn't smirk or frown. Just remained set in a line.

Noire lost it. She started to rant about 'being looked down upon' and how 'Neptune wasn't better then her'. Halfway through though-

"You're annoying... You should respect your betters."

That wasn't Neptune's voice...

That wasn't Neptune's voice!?

Noire actually flew back a bit at that, the flying equivalent of 'taking a step back'. It was too deep. It sounded like a man was speaking out of her mouth.

But Neptune's mouth didn't move...

Noire turned to look behind her, and found nobody. She was about to turn around to face Neptune again, when-

"Over here, _little girl_."

Now she hated that voice. She turned around so fast, she almost thought she got whiplash. She came face to face with Neptune, smirking.

Face-to-face... Neptune was literally inches from her own head now.

Wasn't She a good thirty to forty feet _away_ from Neptune and her bands of misfits? Looking past the now red eyed girl, she saw where Neptune was supposed to be, and where she was now.

…!

Had... she cleared forty feet of distance in the time it took her to turn around? She wasn't turned around that long. Just moments. Seconds. No more then one second _at the most_! Probably more accurate to say half a second!

No way Neptune could do that without being in HDD. I-It was just too fast...

Looking back at Neptune, she got lost in the now red eyes. Deeper then they looked from before, but at that time, they were further away.

"...Boo."

Like that, she was almost bisected at the waste. Had her sword not been in her right hand at the time, and had she not moved it fast enough, she would have been cut into two even pieces.

She got away with minimal injuries from the scythe. She felt her sword almost break from the force, and her arm crushing against her side at such a speed and power had probably cracked a rib or two.

She didn't get off from the throw throw, though.

Because the Scythe hadn't gone all the way through her, all of the force that was halted, moved itself into Noire's body and flung her to the far side of the cave. A good fifty feet away.

With a loud crash, she hit the wall at a good fifty miles an hour (Eighty Kilometers an hour). Her survival, she credited to her now-out of-place left shoulder, and her improved resilience in HDD form. If not for how she'd hit the wall, and her powered up state, she would probably have been dead from the impact alone.

Biting back a scream of pain, opting for a loud moan, she used her other hand to push herself off the ground and look at Neptune.

She was just standing where she hit Noire. The Scythe was now across her right shoulder, the large weapon contrasting to her petite body. Her red eyes were mocking and amused, her mouth set in an arrogant smirk. When Noire set her gaze on the girl, Neptune's smirk got slightly bigger, and she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, her small hips swinging slightly.

Neptune's head tilted ever so slightly, to the exit of the dungeon. The message was clear.

'Fuck Off'.

T-That... Bitch! It didn't matter if she was possibly being controlled or not, Noire needed somebody to take her anger out on for being messed up like she currently was.

But... Did she have a choice? Could she fight Neptune now? And with the injuries she'd sustained just moments ago?

...No. She stood no chance now.

If she hadn't been surprised, she may have stood a better chance. Much better; she may have actually gotten away without any injuries at all. But she was caught off-guard in her cockiness, and she was paying for it now.

Noire grunted, and with a final, _loathing_ glare at Neptune, she took off at high speed, using whatever energy she had left to make it out before Neptune decided to attack her again anyway.

She'd get her revenge.

Oh yes. Neptune. Karma was an absolute _bitch_.

She had no idea it wouldn't be Neptune she'd be taking her anger out on later, though...

_**.::Neptune's Soul::.**_

He laughed a bit, unknowing as to what would happen to him in the future. Caught up in the moment, and in his current situation, he didn't think what might just happen should he get his body back, and this girl that he was fighting found out it was him who'd done all of these things to her...

...'Fighting'.

That's a better way to put it. This wasn't a _fight_ by any means. She was caught by surprise, similar to what had happened to that Witch, and was taken down quickly. _Very_ quickly. The moment she made her first mistake, she stood absolutely no chance against him. He was much to old, much to powerful. Even in his sealed state and with Neptune's under-trained body, he was still able to match her if they'd fought for real.

When he first took the wheel from Neptune, he awoke to find the white haired one smirking at him, but it was soon wiped from her face when she saw his Sharingan in place of Neptune's eyes. He was sure that was a shocker.

And she got distracted by them. And his murderous intent. A combination of that, and his Sharingan casting a slight illusion on her. She probably thought she was in the presence of a monster. Not the scary monster either, a monster that a Human could become if they so chose to take the path. A human, or otherwise average being, becoming tremendously powerful through unnatural means. They tended to have an effect on their surroundings: _especially_ people in them.

Mistake number one: You were surprised. And even worse, _distracted_ and led into thinking what _he_ wanted _her_ to.

After she'd gotten over her surprise at 'Neptune's new contacts', she began to rant to Neptune. Something about being looked down upon-He didn't care enough to listen. Then, just to mess with her, he decided he'd give her some 'words of advice'.

"You're annoying... You should respect your betters." Was all it took. He didn't really think that, but it served it's purpose. It surprised her.

The white haired teen was _surprised_ at his projected thoughts. He didn't need to move Neptune's mouth to speak, if he did, it would just come out as Neptune's voice. No, what he'd done was simple. He projected his thoughts through his Sharingan.

He was skeptical at first. Would it work? Possibly? He'd have to constantly control an illusion that he would place upon the girl. The illusion casting wasn't the hard part: they were staring each other down as she ranted. The execution was hard; but he was confident. If nothing else, he was that.

So with just a little bit of energy, he'd cast an illusion on the girl, and she would now hear his thoughts, so long as he could keep the flow of energy going. Could he do it again? Maybe. Did it have an advantage? Only in this situation. He was already using up a great deal of energy to control Neptune's body. So sacrificing more for simple illusions was a risky investment. In this case, against somebody like this girl, it had paid off greatly. Now she was frightened. Confused. Fear was undoubtedly seeping into her body.

He was never good with this sort of thing in the past. His teachers had estimated that it would take years of specialized training to just get the basics...

Years.

Something that had already passed in abundance. He didn't just sit there and twiddle his thumbs for thousands of years while he was sealed, mind you. He did what he could to keep himself occupied. Training, philosophy, meditation, advanced mathematics...

…That last one was a lie.

But! He did do work while he was sealed. And thousands of years of practice, typically meant that he'd be pretty damn good at something, even if he wasn't very good at it before.

These eyes that Sasuke had given him in his last moments; he'd mastered them. Conquered them. Learned all of their ins and outs. If he could say so himself, he was probably on par with Uchiha Madara now. Not power-wise, but with their Sharingan. He could probably outlast the Uchiha in a 'Sharingan Battle'.

But, back to the present, the girl must have thought somebody else had said it. Those words about her being annoying, because she turned around.

She moved her attention from him to something that wasn't there.

Mistake number two: You were once again distracted. This time, by something that _wasn't even there._

And he capitalized on it. In a cliched saying of 'in the blink of an eye', he shot forward, easily clearing maybe thirty-five feet in just fractions of a second. It was the same speed that he'd used when he fought the Witch. It wasn't any faster then that, but him moving as silently as he could when he did it, made it seem like he was moving faster. At least to him it did.

She was still looking behind her, and taking too long to turn her attention back to him, he deemed. So, once more, he 'spoke' to her, manipulating the illusion again:

"Over here, _little girl_."

Oh yes. He loved insulting this one. It was just too easy, and made him feel big. He was older then her, he knew that without a doubt. There was no way this girl was older then him, if she was making so many mistakes. Even if she was a thousand years old, she wouldn't make such mistakes.

This girl, had the mindset of a seventeen year old. Somebody that was probably more concerned with mundane things. She was powerful, but because she was, she thought she was the best. There are always bigger fish in the sea. She just happened to meet one of them.

He had the mindset of somebody nearly nine thousand years old. Somebody who'd been in countless life-or-death situations. Even life-_and_-death situations. She didn't have the experience he did, nor the skill.

The shear gap in the length of time they'd been alive should give anybody watching this fight, a very clear idea of who would be victorious. There would be no need to mention anything about their experiences or lives.

Even in a straight-up fight, he would probably still win; assuming that Neptune's body could handle the strain.

Speaking of said strain, it would be about time for her body to be feeling it. He wasn't putting too much on her muscles, but her eyes would always feel it. If he deactivated his Sharingan, it wouldn't be so bad, but he liked instilling fear into his opponents.

Made them that much easier to dominate in a fight. Made it faster then it would otherwise be. And if the fight was slower, the strain on Neptune's body was more. So, having his Sharingan active actually lessened the overall strain on her body.

And he liked it when people knew it was _him_ that had kicked their sorry asses, not Neptune.

So, now he would have to finish this. Perfect timing too, the white haired teen had just turned around to look at him, surprised that he was as close to her as he was.

Mistake number three: You were surprised _yet again_... for the _third_ time in a row...

"...Boo."

With that silly word, he swung his scythe, that he'd moved to his left side during his 'dash' towards the girl. It was now facing it's business end towards her stomach. The one it was about to cut through.

With all the force of a freight train, he swung Neptune's right arm. He expected to see blood fly as her two haves parted, but he was surprised to see that she'd managed to block the attack, _and_ survive it with minimal injuries.

His swing.

Not her collision with the wall. That _had_ to hurt. He could feel the bone moving way over here. The impact had dislocated her shoulder, and made her left arm useless until it was put back in place: something that was painful and could take time. This 'fight' was over.

But he'd be damned if he wasn't surprised himself. Had he overlooked something? He had to have. He wasn't paying attention to where her sword was. And he didn't take into account the adrenaline running through her system when she saw him close to her.

He'd overestimated himself, and underestimated her. It wasn't deadly in this situation, but it did stop him from ending her life and, if she'd decided to maneuver out of the path of his swing (if she was fast enough to do so) then he would be seeing a counter-attack coming at his face.

Neptune wouldn't like it if her face got scared up.

But, he masked his surprise as the girl turned her gaze to him. She was much more weary now. Fearful even. She only needed one more push... and she had earned her right to live today. She was skilled enough to turn a fatal attack into a 'survivable' one.

He put his scythe over Neptune's shoulder, and tilted his head. She had to have gotten the message. The same one he'd given the witch.

'Fuck Off.'

Simple. To the point. If she didn't leave now, she wouldn't survive the next attack.

...Actually...

She probably would. He could feel his energy draining rapidly, and he'd just enough left to make it back to Neptune's soul and rest again. If he expelled any more, he wouldn't last.

When the girl left, he let out an inward sigh, and made his way back to Neptune's two traveling companions.

Said companions were watching in awe. Not unlike the first time this had happened.

IF was shaking. She tried to stop it, as she looked into those _evil_ eyes. Eyes of a killer. A person who'd taken lives and would have no hesitation taking theirs if they were deemed a threat.

But unlike last time, she was better prepared. She knew what she would do if this happened again. And though she knew she couldn't fend off 'New Neptune', she could at least buy some time.

With sweat rolling down her neck, she swallowed a wad of saliva and spoke:

"N-Neptune...?" It came out differently then she intended. Full of fear and stuttering. She cursed herself, but didn't show it on her face.

The reaction she got was... not what she expected.

"No."

It was simple. Echoing though her mind. Unknown to her, this person that was controlling Neptune had done the same to IF that he did with the white haired girl: cast a continuous illusion. Just for a moment though, as he had to return to Neptune's soul.

And, with that spoken word, and his arrival near IF, he let his control over Neptune's body drop. Her body collapsed to the ground. The large scythe clattering next to her unconscious body...

_**.::Neptune's Soul::.**_

With a tired sigh, he brought his consciousness back to this endless black abyss, where the 'representation of Neptune's will' was.

It looked just like her, but it was only her consciousness given a preservable form. She needed one, now that his own will was existing next to her own.

With a glance in her direction, he turned around, hands in his metaphorical pockets, and walked towards her.

Then, just as he was about to walk past her, he paused next to her. His eyes were still facing forwards, but he could tell her questioning gaze was locked on his form.

"..." Finally, he turned his head towards her, locking his crimson eyes on her purple ones.

She didn't flinch...?

That was... unexpected. In a way. Interesting...

He expected her to have the same reaction as her friends, but she just continued to stare at him, mouth slightly agape. With a smirk, he reached his right hand out, and tapped her chin once. The action served to bring her out of her stupor and close her mouth with a click of her teeth.

"Close your mouth. It's unbecoming of a lady." Was all he offered her as he brought his hand back to his pocket.

Or he wanted to, but she reached out and grabbed it before it could get all the way there. Blinking twice, he narrowed his eyes in confusion. When she didn't speak nor let his hand go, he spoke instead.

"...Yes, Neptune?"

That got her, as she was taken aback and blinked her own eyes a few times, her soft hands lightening their already light grip a bit. "M... My name...? How do you...?"

He shifted his weight from one hip to the other, but didn't move away from her. His hand was still held lightly in her own two. "I've been living here with you for quite some time now, Neptune. Of course I would know _your_ name."

She only blinked a few more times, before she slowly let his hand go, her own two making their way to her chest.

Absently, he noticed the lack of warmth now and had to ignore the cool feeling as he put his hand back in his pocket. It didn't serve to warm his hand up any, but he ignored it for now.

When she didn't respond further, he just offered her a light smirk, before facing his original destination and walking on.

"Wait!"

He paused for a second, turning his head to gaze at her over his shoulder. She was facing him now, and looked a bit livelier.

"W-What's your name then, scary-man?"

His eye twitched at the name. Scary-man? Well... he did try to come off as scary in the fight, but that was for effect. He wasn't as evil as people probably thought he was...

And for some reason, he felt like he couldn't be mean to Neptune anyway. Maybe it was because he was a tenant in her soul now? Yeah. Had to be.

He turned his head around again, and continued on his way, but offered her some words anyway.

"Not now, Neptune. Maybe some day..."

"W-When is someday?"

He continued walking still, but answered her. "Hmm... Maybe when you can figure out who I am?" He challenged back, before he felt himself disappear from her mindscape and return to his temporary home.

Right on time too.

It was time to sleep~

_**.::Neptune::.**_

"_Maybe when you can figure out who I am?"_

What did that mean? Was he somebody important...? He said it like she shouldn't have much trouble understanding...

…!

Was he somebody she upset in the past too!?

...No. She just got the mental image of IF whacking her over the head. So she had to be wrong on that count.

But... What the hell had he just done? One moment she was fighting, the next, she was watching him fight in her place. And he was _ruthless_. An absolute monster when he fought that girl. If Neptune wasn't so shocked at the happenings, she probably would have stopped him from harming the girl so much.

But, she didn't have time to ponder that, because, now she could see the roof of that Inn they were staying in. Looking around her, she noticed that she was facing upwards and now back in her own body.

Sitting up, she felt the soreness in her muscles from the previous battle. But she shouldn't be feeling it... she wasn't that out of shape? And her eyes hurt a bit...?

Looking around again, she found IF and Compa missing, but their personal belongings were still in their respective beds. Out the window, it was sunny. Morning. It was late afternoon when the fight with that white haired girl started.

Had she fallen unconscious for a day? It didn't feel like she was talking to Scary Man that long...

Did she?

_**.::Days Later::.**_

This was getting old now.

This was the third time that he'd lent a hand to Neptune when she was loosing. Only this time, he made sure she was on the verge of passing out when he stepped in. He was pretty sure that she knew he was taking over again, but had only just seen him appear out of the blackness of her mindscape before she fell asleep.

That white haired girl had showed up again. The result of the battle had been no different, but the teen was prepared for his intervention this time. Or at the very least, expecting it. The battle had gone on longer, and the girl actually proved to be quite formidable. She was fast, and that had helped her a great deal to dodge his attacks, but it wasn't quite enough. She did get minor wounds on her, and every now and then, he was able to open a tiny gash somewhere on her body.

By the end, she was just too tired to continue and decided to escape herself, but only after saying something about the battle being a draw.

Oh. That girl kind of got on his nerves now. She was obviously outclassed by him, but her words had some merit to them. He'd used up a great deal of energy controlling Neptune's body again. He was about to relinquish control anyway to rest and hope that Neptune's friends could get them out of the situation, but the white haired girl had done it for them.

Her bad judgment. Her loss. No two-ways around it.

Nonetheless, he gave Neptune control again, and decided that it was time to rest for a while. Neptune's body needed a rest anyway. That was twice in a two-day period he'd had to control her, and even he could feel the strain on her body now.

He'd let the next few days pass by as he rested... or maybe many days...

_**.::Many Days Later::.**_

Neptune took a minute to digest everything that had happened over the past ten days. They'd traveled through the four nations, and collected each Key Fragment. It was somewhat of a difficult journey, but she'd done pretty well, if she could say so herself.

Then they'd released Histy from her imprisonment. At first, Neptune wasn't sure what to think. She was just... expecting differently. The voice was undoubtedly the same though. So they'd gone along with it.

Then, after introductions and the explanation of just what Histy was, they got to a shocking subject. Who was actually behind the illegal discs, and about Neptune herself.

She as actually Planeptune's CPU Goddess. That was why all the other Goddesses had come down from Celestia (where they were planing to go) and why Planeptune's didn't return at the same time.

Now, they'd just finished their discussion on the Four Hero's Weapons. The ones that would open the way to Celestia, that was locked away many years ago by those same Heroes.

Then a thought came to her. The Scythe. Planeptune's weapon was located in a cave, according to Histy. And they'd found this Scythe in that cave... so-

Moving the weapon forward–_it had previously been held behind her back–_ She presented it to Histoire and asked that golden question.

"So, wait." She was actually being somewhat serious. "Does this count as one of those Hero's weapons?!" That would be amazing! Then they would have obtained one without even knowing it, really early in the game!

But it was not the case. At the mention of the large scythe, Histoire's eyes dulled a great deal. Where as they had been full of promise and hope that they were finally going to beat Arfoire (the name of that Witch they'd fought time and time again), they were now darker. As if she was looking at the grave of an old and dear friend.

"No, Neptune..."

Neptune was taken aback just a bit at her dull sounding voice, but blinked none the same in confusion. Then it was just a Scythe like she had thought?

"Neptune... what you have in your hand there is very... _very_ old. And _very_ powerful." Histoire continued. This was a section in her book that she'd read time and time again as she was imprisoned. The world was her everything, and she was it's. So she knew exactly what that weapon was. What that _person_ was.

"Huh...?" Was Neptune's intelligent response.

Histoire put on a small smile as she came forward, and placed one of her petite hands on the blade of the scythe, careful not to touch the actual cutting edge. "This isn't a weapon, Neptune. Though I'm sure you thought it was, it is much _more _then that."

Flying back again, she looked at all three people before her. They'd been traveling with possibly one of the strongest beings to ever exist, and they'd not noticed it at all.

IF shook her head lightly, and put out her hand, a thinking gesture for her, and held the palm out in a 'Stop' motion. "Wait. Then, if it's not a weapon, what the _hell_ is it? It's obviously not normal. It's way to sharp and big, and it's way to light for it's size."

Histoire once more smiled lightly, and beckoned them to follow her. As they made their way through he Basilicom of Planeptune, Neptune was taking her time to gaze at the scythe that she'd fought with for nearly three months now. She thought she was onto something when Histy mentioned the Hero's Weapons, but now she was learning something that was probably much larger then that legend.

Eventually, they stopped in a large room. It was in the shape of a dome, and there was a medium sized crystal in the middle of it. A Sharicite Crystal. It was literally, the crystallized faith of the people's belief in a CPU.

Histoire flew over to it on her book, and stuck her hand out. Her knowledge from the book itself telling her exactly what she needed to do. As she kept her hand near it, it began to glow slightly. The residual energy being absorbed into her hand.

As she did this, she spoke to the people behind her without looking back at them.

"At first." She started, gaining their full attention, "that scythe _was_ a weapon at one point. However, long ago, there was an era that had no Goddesses. No CPUs. Not much is known now, as that era was thousands and thousands of years ago. But _t__his_ is one of the remaining few truths from back then." She gestured once more at the scythe, still facing the crystal and collecting energy.

She turned around now, her hand still glowing as she removed it from the crystal. The energy she obtained would be used to let Neptune meet this being.

"Neptune. As you're the one that picked up the scythe, after it's thousands of years of rest, this being, the 'Relic From Times Past', within the Scythe has chosen you to be his champion, so to speak." She flew over to Neptune, and held up her hand to emphasize it.

"Neptune, only you are able to converse with this being. Only you can learn what he has to say, what he can teach you should he want to."

IF took a step forward, a little shocked at all the information. Sure, she knew that there was a time before the Goddesses, but to think a relic from that time still existed?

"H-Histoire." She chastised herself for stuttering, but cleared her through and continued. "How do you know all of this...? If it's as old as you say."

Histoire just smiled, and patted her hand on the book she was floating on. "The world is my everything, and I am it's. There's not much that I don't know, IF."

Without waiting any longer, Histoire put her hand on Neptune's forehead. The moment it came into contact, Neptune's eyes grew wider and she began to shake slightly. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, then closed as her purple eyes dulled and lost their light. But she remained standing.

The three she left behind waited in an impatient atmosphere as she began her small journey on her own.

_**.::Neptune's Soul::.**_

Neptune opened her eyes, thinking she would be on the ground of that room, or in a bed of some kind.

No, she wasn't. She was in that black abyss again. The same one where she'd met that Scary-man for the first time and subsequent times after.

It was just black as always. Dark as far as the eye could see. The 'ground' she was standing on was transparent, and just as black as her surroundings.

"Hoh...?"

She jumped at the voice, and turned around quickly. But she already had an idea of who it would be.

And she was right.

Before her stood the 'Scary-man' again. He looked the same as he did the last time she'd 'seen' him. Blond spiky hair, deep crimson eyes, slightly tanned and taller then her. He was still in that get-up of a red shirt, orange designs on the back, covered by a black jacket; unzipped at the front. His bottoms covered in black pants, and his feet had some dress shoes on them.

His hands were in his pockets as he gazed down at her.

"You came on your own this time?" He questioned her, and she came out of her stupor and nodded.

"Yeah."

He turned his head slightly, eyes gazing out to his left for just a moment. Then they turned back to her, holding a new light in them. "That little fairy brought you here?"

Neptune was, once again for the umpteenth time, surprised by him. He knew that Histy had sent her here? Was that a bad thing?

As if reading her mind, the man waved his hand at her and continued speaking. "I guess that's okay... but now, I have my own question for you, Neptune."

She nodded, still finding it weird that he knew her name, but she didn't know his. Maybe he would tell her now?

"Do you know who I am?"

The same question he asked nearly two months ago. Back then, she was confused. She didn't have an answer for him back then. She was clueless as to who he could have been. The only hint he'd given her was that he was with her for some time.

This time though, she had an idea, and decided to make an educated guess. "You're... the scythe. Right?" She was hesitant to ask him that, but did nonetheless. She had to know.

He didn't say anything for a bit. Quiet as the grave, and he only blinked a few times. She began to think that her answer was wrong, but he suddenly chuckled very lightly.

"I told you that _you_ had to figure it out... but I never did say you couldn't have help, I suppose. So, I'll take it." He lifted his head, which he'd faced downward to laugh to himself.

She nearly gasped at his eyes. Before he laughed, they were red. The same sight she was used to seeing. But now they were blue. _Oh_ so blue. Their once deadly gaze had changed now. They were full of warmth and companionship. A love for all things, she would go as far to say.

She actually blushed a bit at his 'new' look. He was quite the looker...

"Correct, Neptune." He started, and kept the smile he had on his face. "It's nice to finally meet you. My name is Naruto."

Naruto.

A name. It was a bit of an odd name, no doubt one from his era, but she found herself memorized by it none the less. It definitely answered quite a few questions. But now she had a name to go with the face. With both of the faces. The hardened warrior, and the cute teen boy.

How many times had she complimented his looks just now? In the past minute?

Ignoring the thoughts, they began to have an actual conversation now. The basics were more about who he was, about his past (even though he didn't give her much), and what he was doing here.

In order, he was a powerful Shinobi from nearly nine thousand years in the past, sealed away by his worst enemy in her last moments and cursed to remain in the form of a scythe for the rest of his eternal life. His Mind, Soul and will were taken from his body and sealed in his favorite weapon, which was left to rust forever in a tomb. Years past, and that tomb had opened up into a cave, which became a dungeon. The very same that she'd entered with her friends months ago.

His past was a touchy subject. The best he told her, was that he didn't have an easy childhood, and he would tell her some day, definitely, just not yet. He may have known her for a few months, but this was the first real conversation that they'd had. So this was actually the first time she'd actually met Uzumaki Naruto.

It was his full name, but he chose not to use it anymore. Uzumaki held no worth anymore in the world, and he'd said something about honoring his parents long ago. So he just decided that he would become 'Naruto' at some point in time.

And his reason for attaching himself to Neptune. It was to find his body. While he was separated from it, he had a feeling that it was still around, sealed somewhere away from his mind and body. But, he wasn't entirely sure. It had been thousands of years, so it was quite possible that his body's bones didn't even exist anymore.

With all of that information, she prepared to leave, but stopped when he put a hand on her shoulder. Turning around and facing him, she met his gaze.

"Neptune." He started, "let me teach you something right now. It won't take long, depending on you yourself. But it would make my existence much easier in here."

For a moment, she had to wonder what he wanted. A better look to the place? It was rather... dark. But she was unsure if she could change it. But he put her worries to rest.

"Neptune, from the moment I joined with you, your soul has been sub-consciously pushing on my own. Trying to expel me from your body. This has caused me to sleep and recover for long periods of time. Now, it's not your fault that it's happening, its a reflex your soul's having to an intruder. It thinks I'm trying to harm you."

Neptune nodded. She knew where this was going now. He wanted her to try and stop it. She wasn't sure if she could, but she would try.

"How do I stop it?"

Naruto smiled at her, and lifted his right hand, his index finger pointing upwards. "Just will it."

She blinked.

And again.

The hell did that mean? Just will it? She just had to want it to happen a different way, and it would happen. She tiled her head slightly, her gaze questioning.

Naruto smiled at her and let go of her shoulder and took a step back. This time, both of his arms came up, and made sweeping gestures to their surroundings. "Neptune. This is _your_ soul. You are the master of this world and body. Should you will it to happen, it _will_. Should you decide that you don't want me in here, you only have to will me to. Should you decide that you like my company, you can will your soul to accept me... But..."

He crossed his arms here, and his eyes narrowed. He was becoming the wise warrior again, but wasn't quite as evil. His presence was still warm and comforting. "Neptune, when you do this, you have to know what's going to happen. By accepting my soul, our two souls will meld together a bit. Just enough that I'll be aloud to stay and remain conscious, but not enough that we'll actually fuse and become one being."

She nodded. Confusing. But he was trying to explain it in a simple way for her.

"The result, is most likely that our memories and thoughts would be seen and heard by the other. Neptune, I would see your memories..." he paused and leaned forward slightly, talking in a slightly lower tone of voice then before. "...and you would see mine..."

Normally, she wouldn't think this a big thing, but she recalled what Naruto said about his life. It was hard, painful, and lonely. Bad event on top of bad event. Situations that looked good suddenly were turned on their head. Things he thought he knew were wrong, and dark truths were relieved to him, some at the worst possible times. Some so shocking he almost lost himself in his anger or depression.

Those memories would, in essence, become her own. She would know every aspect of his life. The part about her hearing his thoughts, and him hearing hers, wasn't nearly as bad.

But a ray of light:

"But there's a way around that."

She turned her head upwards again, having lowered it in thought. She was looking directly into his warm eyes again, and actually had to look to the side a bit to fight off her flushing face. He really was good looking...

Naruto didn't seem to notice it and continued. "I can stop those memories. You wont actively be shown them unless you search for them. And this is another lifetime of memories to take into your own. You would be unconscious for a bit of time while you saw them anyway. If we do it this way, you'll be exposed to them slowly. So slowly, you wont notice them."

With a audible swallow of saliva, she nodded. She would do it. He was the one who had saved her life, and her friends lives for months now. He didn't say anything about it, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know. He was her Guardian Angel in a way. Watching over her and helping her in her times of need.

This was the least she could do to pay him back.

So, with that resolve, she set out to doing just that. And it was easier then she thought it would be. There was no audible signal, no 'click' she thought she would hear. She just felt it.

In just moments, this dark room had changed. It wasn't cold now, and it wasn't black. It was actually, bright. The once dark world had turned into a bright one, full of light. She wasn't sure why, but it did.

And she could feel him now. In the back of her mind, she could tell he was listening, watching, hearing.

Looking down at her hands, she tested them. Still under her control.

She looked back at Naruto, but he simply smiled at her and placed his right index and middle fingers on her forehead. There was a warm sensation, as his voice began to grow more distant.

"Until you learn how to come here and leave on your own, Neptune, all you have to do is ask, and I'll bring you here for you."

With that, she found herself looking back at Histy again. She blinked once as the fairy girl removed her hand from Neptune's forehead.

She felt... different now.

Lighter even.

'_That would be me_'

And that never happened before!

Jumping slightly, she turned her head left and right, trying to find him. He wasn't in the room, but she could hear him. Facing forward again, she decided to test something.

"Are you... in my head?" She asked verbally, and her friends looked at her like she grew a second head, but she ignored them. They couldn't hear Naruto like she could.

She got he image of him smiling at her and nodding his head. '_Yes. I am now inside of your mind, Neptune. And you don't have to speak out loud. Remember, we can hear each others thoughts now._'

That made some sense. She nodded, though she didn't know if he would see it. '_What do you mean, that it was because of you?_'

She could feel him smile again. '_All of the energy that I was using to stay attached to you, is now remaining idle. But, since our souls have melded ever so slightly, it's leaking into your own energy now. That would be my only guess._'

So, she was stronger now that she was 'accepting' him? His energy was flooding her body and making it lighter, stronger. She had to be at least fifty percent stronger now.

Deciding to test some things out later, she got an idea: '_Can my friends here you too?_'

He paused in thought, she could hear his hum as he racked his brain for an answer. With a metaphorical snap of his fingers that echoed in her mind, he spoke: '_Maybe. Tell them all to place a hand on the Scythe._'

Looking at said weapon, she only just now noticed that it was slightly lighter then she was used to. Though that might be because of their union too.

Putting the end of the snath on the ground, she smiled at her friends. "Hold it with me." Was her simple instruction.

With hesitant glances at each other, IF, Compa and Histoire eventually put their own hands on the scythe.

'_Hello_'

And jumped away from it when they heard the foreign voice in their minds. But Histoire was the first to recover, and put her hand back on the snath with a smile. "Hello to you too... uhh..." She had no name for him. "What's your name? It would be a bit of a mouthful to call you 'Relic from Times Past'...?" she laughed a bit.

By this time, IF and Compa had both placed their hands on the scythe again, and were listening in.

'_Of course. It's a pleasure to meet you, Histoire_' Histoire smiled. '_IF._' IF actually blinked a few times at hearing her name from somebody she never gave it to. '_And Compa._' Compa actually greeted him back with a cheerful smile, probably happy at making another possible friend.

From there, they spent their time asking him the same questions that Neptune did, and got the same answers.

_**.::End::.**_

**Okay, well, that's the chapter my friends. I actually thought up an idea like this about a year ago now, but didn't think I could put it together properly in a story. Then I decided one day to just 'wing it' and give it a shot.**

**I think it turned out decent? What do you think?**

**And what are your thoughts on the pairing? NarutoxNeptune? It's probably overdone, but this takes place during the first HDN game, so there's no Nepgear, Uni or the other candidates. (As far as I know. I haven't seen much of the remake...)**

**As always, suggestions are welcome if you decide you have an idea, and reviews make me happy~**

**I'll see you guys later (hopefully on a different chapter of another story)**

**Narora.**

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><p>1 - I just renamed Creepypasta =D I hope you got that reference when you read it though...?<p> 


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